There are some things we know the U.S. Women's National Team will do in today's World Cup Final against upstart Japan.

We know they will run until their lungs burst. We know they will do anything and everything they can to get the ball to the head of Abby Wambach. We know Hope Solo will provide the steadiness in goal that comes with being the world's best female goalkeeper. We know, after their epic comeback against Brazil, that regardless of scoreline they will throw everything they've got at the Japanese for all 90 minutes. Or, if it comes to it, 120. Or 122.

But those things alone won't be enough. Here's five more the USWNT must do to win their first World Cup title since 1999:

Win the set-piece battle. This final matches up arguably the world's two most dangerous women's teams on free kicks, though each side creates that danger through very different means. Behind the precision shots of Aya Miyama, Japan is a substantial threat to score directly from a dead ball; Wambach, meanwhile, has used the tournament to again prove herself the greatest aerial target in the women's game. If the U.S.'s crosses to Wambach can cause more havoc for Japan than Miyama's free kicks can for the U.S, the edge could prove decisive for the Americans. (And given the huge physical advantage the towering Wambach has over Japan's size-challenged defenders, that's not unlikely.)

But it's not just about quality; it's about quantity, too. Even moreso than usual, the U.S. must be careful not to commit unnecessary fouls near their own box--particularly since the Japanese have been one of the tournament's best teams in avoiding those kinds of fouls themselves.

Keep pressing--but do it smartly. The U.S. is the soccer equivalent of Nolan Richardson's old "40 Minutes of Hell" Arkansas basketball teams, using their box-to-box pressing style both to 1. force turnovers and create scoring opportunities as well as 2. grind down opponents with their superior fitness and strength. But against France in Wednesday's semifinal, the U.S. became too aggressive at times, pushing five or even six players into the French side of midfield to pressure just four defenders. While this approach can pay huge dividends against the Colombias of the world, against the skilled French it more often resulted in a quick pass through or over the pressure--and a scramble in the American defense. And unfortunately for the U.S., Japan is much more France than Colombia when it comes to team skill.

That's not to say the U.S. should abandon the philosophy that's brought them this far. (In fact, it was just a game ago that Sweden's only goal against the Japanese came following an uncharacteristic giveaway by star midfielder Homare Sawa.) But a bit more caution will be called for against a team that passes as well as Japan, particularly if the U.S. can once again grab an early lead.

Defensively, just don't make the killer mistake. U.S. fans should go ahead and accept that their team will lose the possession battle; tight, controlled passing is (as mentioned) the cornerstone of the Japanese game, while the Americans' direct approach often gives the ball up willingly in exchange for the chance of hitting a deep home run to Wambach or speedier forwards Amy Rodriguez and Alex Morgan.

But as with France -- who dominated the middle hour of the semifinal but had just one semi-fortunate goal to show for it -- all that possession doesn't have to guarantee Japan an end product. Even against Sweden, where Japan hogged the ball for a startling 60 percent of the match, all three Japanese goals could be partially (or fully) attributed to breakdowns by Swedish keeper Hedvig Lindal. And before that match, Japan had scored just one goal over their previous 210 minutes of play. If the steadily improving U.S. backline (and perpetually reliable Solo) can avoid making the same crushing errors that doomed the Swedes, Japan could have trouble finding the net no matter how eye-popping their possession figures.

Get the ball wide. Speaking of possession, central midfielders Carli Lloyd and Shannon Boxx struggled badly to maintain it against the French. But perhaps their even bigger sin was their failure to consistently get the ball to starting wingers Heather O'Reilly and Lauren Cheney. While Wambach is the finisher, it's the wide midfielders -- O'Reilly, Cheney, and in-form substitute Megan Rapinoe -- who provide the bulk of the U.S. attack's creativity and flow.

Lloyd and Boxx must simply do a better job of getting the wingers involved, and the quicker their passing the better; Japanese outside backs Aya Samashima and Yukari Kinga have been known to push forward and leave space behind them for the taking.

If all else fails, take it to penalty kicks. Between Solo and the penalty-taking clinic the U.S. put on in their shootout against Brazil, the Americans will be heavy favorites if the match reaches that stage. While the U.S. has never been the sort of squad to sit back and just let the clock peter out on a tie game, their likely advantage in this scenario suggests that once the clock hits the 110th or 115th minute, that might be the better strategy than risking a sudden breakdown at the back.

The U.S. has never lost to Japan, going 22-0-3 against their fellow finalists all-time and even winning a pair of meetings by identical 2-0 scores earlier this year. Naturally, the elevated stakes and Japan's impressive tournament form mean that those records don't count for a whole lot. But if the U.S. can get Wambach the crosses she needs -- either from set pieces or the wings -- and stay steady at the back, don't be surprised if they stay perfect against Japan all the same ... and return home the nation's biggest soccer heroes since their famous forerunners 12 years ago.

This is how a country can endear itself to a sport it has yet to really accept.

The U.S. Women's World Cup squad has been gripping. It has been beyond entertaining. And speaking for myself, it has inspired an even stronger sense of patriotism.

I am still trying to figure out the more amazing part of this Women's World Cup: the fact that people in the U.S. are paying such close attention to soccer or that they are paying attention to women's soccer. Let's be honest, women's sports take a back seat in interest level. Even in tennis, a sport where the interest is near equal, the men always play their finals after the women.

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Best I can tell, the interest seems to be almost as high as it was in the men last year in South Africa. The ratings don't show it being on par with the men, but you could have fooled me.

I took in the quarterfinal game against Brazil in a sports bar and was somewhat stunned to see the people on hand watching the game, erupting into celebration with Abby Wambach's game-tying goal. Suddenly, Uncle Sam's army was spreading, bringing out some soccer aficionados cheering on the ladies in the red, white and blue.

Names like Wambach, Hope Solo, Megan Rapinoe, Carli Lloyd, Alex Morgan and Heather O'Reilly now exist in a lot of sports fans' vocabularies. Moments like this from Rapinoe help too. Now there is more than Mia Hamm and Brandi Chastain to Americans.

Of course, winning helps too. Winning always helps. Especially in such exciting fashion. Is there anything Americans love more than winning?

The Brazil win will go down as one of the greatest games in U.S. soccer history, men or women. But the 3-1 victory over France today was no slouch in the intrigue department. The Americans were dominated by the French for the first 70 minutes of this game. The U.S. had one chance early and scored. After that, it was all France, including a second-half score by Les Bleus, leading to a lot more nail-biting in the States. That was until Wambach found herself on the far post with a header opportunity again, this time coming off a corner kick. Suddenly, the USA was up again and flipped the game's script that fast. With the French defense forced to press, Morgan snuck by and tacked on the icing three minutes later. The U.S. is back in the World Cup final.

Now I'm no fool. I understand that in a few week's time this will largely be forgotten and soccer will remain more or less a niche sport in the States. But every time there is a team like this or moments like Landon Donovan's goal against Algeria last year, the game gains more steam in the States. It has to.

This has been great soccer. Yes, the team itself has made for some compelling games by their late-game heroics and the like, but it really has been good soccer. And fans who say they won't watch soccer with the flopping? It's just not as prevalent in the women's game as the guys.

It is getting hard to ignore this team. And at this point, I'm not sure why you would want to.

It took the U.S. Women's National Team 12 long years. But Brandi Chastain finally has some company.

No, we're not already putting yesterday's fightback-for-the-ages against Brazil on the same pedestal as Chastain's legendary Cup-clinching penalty kick and (just as legendary) jersey-optional celebration. That moment remains the single most iconic moment in U.S. soccer history, men's or women's, and until Abby Wambach winds up on the cover of Time, it's no contest.

But it is a conversation. Wambach's 122nd-minute goal* and the U.S.'s subsequent victory on penalties sent Twitter into a frenzy, led every highlight package edited in this country between then and now, and drew congratulations from everyone from Ochocinco to Li'l Wayne. Not one not two but three different senior CBSSports.com writers were moved to sing the praises of their epic in Dresden. Yes, the USWNT have had their moments since 1999 (a pair of Olympic gold medals among them), but at no time have they firmly, decisively re-entered the national sports consciousness the way they did yesterday.

So they've got our attention. Which is why we ask: What now?

It was just a year ago the country was experiencing the same brand of summer soccer euphoria, thanks to Landon Donovan'sequally-thrilling goal against Algeria to send the U.S. men into the final 16 of theirWorld Cup. Wambach's goal drew immediate comparisons to Donovan's for many reasons -- their improbable lateness, their shared do-or-die drama, the impeccable call of ESPN's Ian Darke on each -- but one overlooked similarity is the golden opportunity each created for their respective teams. For the USMNT, it meant a path to an unprecedented Cup semifinal berth free of any of the world's traditional powers; only Ghana and Uruguay stood in their way.

After a carnage-filled quarterfinal round, the U.S. women likewise find themselves the sudden favorite among the four remaining teams. Highly-touted England went out on penalties to upstart European rivals France; hosts Germany were stunned by Japan 1-0 in what many observers have called the biggest upset in Women's World Cup history; and of course Brazil is going home trophyless once again, having run into their American archrivals a round (or two) earlier than they'd have liked. Both the French and likely finalist Sweden (3-1 quarterfinal victors over a solid Australian team) have strong, sound programs that only the U.S.'s best efforts will overcome, but neither can boast the USWNT's overall depth or tournament-honed pedigree.

In short, the door is open. And with the team still riding the wave of interest generated by yesterday's impossible finish, walking through it means the names of stars like Wambach, Hope Solo, and Megan Rapinoe (provider of that pinpoint cross to Wambach) could reach the same kind of household status held by previous USWNT stars like Chastain, Mia Hamm and Julie Foudy. Win these two matches -- winnable matches, at the minimum -- and the U.S. women come home with even more than a championship.

But we said the same things before the U.S. men faced Ghana, before they came out flat and looked even flatter by the end of the Ghanaians' 2-1 extra-time victory. Similarly, as defining a moment as yesterday's match was, it might have been the worst possible way for the U.S. women to advance. As they proved against Brazil, the USWNT's greatest strength isn't technical skill or tactical acumen so much as its athleticism, physicality, determination and absolutely peerless workrate. But after riding yesterday's emotional roller-coaster for 120 minutes and playing 10-on-11 for nearly 60, do the Americans still have enough energy in reserve -- mentally or physically -- to still press that advantage?

That's not the team's only problem, either. For all of Wambach's aerial brilliance and fellow striker Amy Rodriguez's speed, the U.S. has often lacked creativity in attack, preferring a direct route approach that defenders at this level (unless they've been on the field for 122 minutes already) are usually prepared to deal with. Coach Pia Sundhage has seemed unwilling or unable to call on her bench, exacerbating the fitness issue. And most worryingly, the U.S. back line -- led by intelligent-but-aging centerback Christie Rampone -- has looked wobbly throughout the tournament (most notably in the 2-1 group stage loss to Sweden that doomed the Americans to the Brazil quarterfinal in the first place). Now they face France without red-carded starter Rachel Buehler, and the relatively green Becky Sauerbrunn making her tournament debut in Buehler's place.

But for all of that, the Americans still have plenty going for them. They have Solo, by nearly all accounts the world's best goalkeeper. They have the indomitable Wambach. In Rapinoe, Lauren Cheney, and Heather O'Reilly, they have a wealth of outside attacking talent that few teams can match. More than anything, they have the same never-say-die fighting spirit that has always been the hallmark of American soccer, men's or women's.

That spirit is why they now also have the the greatest opportunity of their soccer careers. What now? Now the USWNT either takes advantage of that opportunity, or Wambach's goal -- like Donovan's before it -- is remembered as the brilliant high point of a World Cup campaign that wound up less brilliant than it might have been.